I want to know what the significance of the peom entitled: One Being Brought from Africa to America....................... a response in the next 4 hours or so will be greatlly appreciated.
One Being Brought From Africa To America
by Phillis Wheatly
'TWAS mercy brought me from my Pagan land,
Taught my benighted soul to understand
That there's a God, that there's a Saviour too:
Once I redemption neither fought now knew,
Some view our sable race with scornful eye,
"Their colour is a diabolic die."
Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain,
May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train.
It helps to know something about Phillis Wheatly's background- she was a slave and also a poet. However, here she's saying that being brought to America as a slave was a good thing, as she was able to find Christianity.
[www.csustan.edu] />
pam
NB typos - line 4 - should be 'neither sought nor knew'. I'd also question the spelling of 'die' (meaning 'dye'?) but it might be archaic or to emphasis the double meaning of that sound - most of her poetry seems to be too unsophisticated for that, though. The only source I've seen is the Pam's link, and I don't have time to search today.
"Their colour is a diabolic die."
It's in quotes, for some reason. Should the reader recognize the quotation? Could be black spots on dice as well? A small amount of black in a large amount of white, that is.
Some interesting stuff on the LitWeb -
[www.wwnorton.com] />
Stephen
I think that the quotes are to indicate that the sentence is what the (white) people are saying when they look at the black people.
pam
I dont think it is "die" as in "dice", but rqther the "MOLD" meaning
The words in quotes would be from some who would deny the sany race capable of purification or Christianity. The mark of Cain being interpreted a the dark skin of Afica.
Her black souls has a Gaod and a Saviour., contrary tothe view expressed in quotes.
Go Phillis
Peter
Gorgive, i"m being attacked by the the the typo-demons again.
Peter
i think Gorgive is the Klingon God of Typos
"Their color is a diablolic die." Why doesn't 'die' for 'dye' refer to 'color' as in a stamp, with secondary play on death? By 1773 English spelling would not has been calcified by the New Englandlers in America.
Peter
Good point....the dye is cast
I thought it was less the mark of Cain, more the curse of Noah on Ham because he saw him drunk and naked, unlike Shem and Japhet who walked backwards with a blanket to cover him up.
Ham's being cursed to be subservient was used as justification for slavery, but the mark of cain is more effective here because "all men shall know you" is why non-black indentured servants could take off and blend in if they escaped, while the black could never.
I found the line elsewhere with the word spelled DYE.
So probably the simplest explanation is the best: "Some people think Africans are black because the devil colored them that way."
The poem seems entirely sincere to me. Sickening, but sincerely.